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Speaker 1: Whenever there was a camera around, like a professional camera anywhere,

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Speaker 1: and I'm talking like if they were there was a

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Speaker 1: news thing, and I would literally be up behind it

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Speaker 1: trying to get on the TV to do an interview.

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Speaker 1: If you look at Netflix right now, there's a show

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Speaker 1: of Woodstock train Wreck. I went to Woodstock ninety nine

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Speaker 1: and I got in front of this camera and was like,

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Speaker 1: Woodstock ninety nine. Baby, had no idea this was out

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Speaker 1: there at all until that documentary came out on Netflix

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Speaker 1: this year and they used me as like their first person,

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Speaker 1: like guy. They didn't say it was the Miss, but

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Speaker 1: everyone on the internet was like, is that the Miss?

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Speaker 1: Is that the miss? It? Yeah, that was me. That

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Speaker 1: was like eighteen year old miss out of high school

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Speaker 1: going to honestly what I thought was the greatest concert

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Speaker 1: I've ever been to. Hey, what's up? It is the

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Speaker 1: most musty w w E superstar of all time? The

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Speaker 1: Miss or You may know me as Mike from the

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Speaker 1: Real World and Miss and Misses and I am awesome. Well,

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Speaker 1: hello everybody, and welcome to a brand spanking new episode

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Speaker 1: of Off the Beat. I'm your host, as always, Brian

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Speaker 1: Bob Gartner. Now, as you just heard today I got

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Speaker 1: to sit down for a full interview with the Miss.

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Speaker 1: Why because he's the Miss and he is awesome. If

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Speaker 1: you listen to the Live from Lake Tahoe episode, you've

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Speaker 1: got a sneak peek into just how freaking awesome he is.

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Speaker 1: But if you didn't let me catch you up, you

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Speaker 1: probably recognize them is from his pure domination in the

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Speaker 1: w w E. But there might be a group of

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Speaker 1: you out there who knew him before he was a wrestler,

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Speaker 1: when he was just planting the seeds of his future

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Speaker 1: career on the real world. Tough enough and well then

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Speaker 1: just about every popular reality TV show of the early

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Speaker 1: two thousands. The MSS is an entertainer to say the least,

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Speaker 1: but he's also a true underdog. He went from being

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Speaker 1: just well, the token real world guy to the only

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Speaker 1: two time Grand Slam champion in w w E history.

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Speaker 1: But that's not all. He's continued to crush the reality

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Speaker 1: TV space and a number of ways, including his very

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Speaker 1: own show with his wife Maurice MS and Mrs Mike

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Speaker 1: the Ms. He delights me. I don't know what it is.

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Speaker 1: His spirit is so infectious. He's an interesting guy. I

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Speaker 1: cannot wait for you to hear this conversation, but buckle up, okay,

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Speaker 1: because it is going to be a wild ride here.

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Speaker 1: He is everybody, Mike the MSS Bubble and Squeak. I

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Speaker 1: love it. Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and Squeaker Cookie every

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Speaker 1: month left over from the NAT before. What's up? Mike?

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Speaker 1: Look at you? What's up? Buddy? How are you? Look

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Speaker 1: at you? Where are you? I'm at my house. This

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Speaker 1: is like this is like our office alright, like like

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Speaker 1: our production company's office. Okay. I I don't know why

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Speaker 1: I keep feeling like I have to tell people I'm

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Speaker 1: at a hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: we've got we've got a studio ready here, you know.

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Speaker 1: I you know, I lived close to Atlanta, like right,

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Speaker 1: I lived in mcdonnet, Georgia when I first started wrestling.

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Speaker 1: I'm from here originally. I know that I've listened to

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Speaker 1: Off the Beat literally NonStop since it was before Off

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Speaker 1: the Beat, So I know, I feel like I know

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Speaker 1: everything about you, and well, we're gonna get to know

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Speaker 1: more about you today. Mcdonn. Why were you here? Is

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Speaker 1: this a training facility or what it was? So? W

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Speaker 1: W E had a training facility called Deep South Wrestling.

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Speaker 1: And once I got off the show Tough Enough, which

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Speaker 1: is a show where you could win a contract. It

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Speaker 1: was a reality show for w W, but I didn't win,

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Speaker 1: but I got a contract for Developmental and Deep South

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Speaker 1: Wrestling and mcdonnoh, Georgia was where we trained. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: your look says it all. Uh it's it wasn't the

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Speaker 1: greatest place, but honestly, I really enjoyed it, like I

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Speaker 1: loved I had such a blast. It was very grueling,

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Speaker 1: hard work. It was a great place to dedicate yourself

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Speaker 1: into a profession. Well, we're gonna talk about all of

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Speaker 1: that and more. I want to start going back now.

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Speaker 1: My understanding is not just born, but lived in Ohio

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Speaker 1: exclusively for a very long time. Born in Parma, Parmasana. Yeah, yes,

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Speaker 1: I was born in Parma, Ohio, and um I lived there.

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Speaker 1: My entire life grew up kind of I guess middle class,

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Speaker 1: you know. Um, and it was it was a great

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Speaker 1: place to live. Like I I still have friends to

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Speaker 1: this day that I talked to on a weekly basis

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Speaker 1: from you know, Cleveland, and uh, it's it's it's amazing.

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Speaker 1: It's like I've developed friendships that will last literally a lifetime,

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Speaker 1: and they have lasted my lifetime. So growing up Parma

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Speaker 1: was a great spot. I lived in a condo. It

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Speaker 1: was like a eight square foot condo and yeah, I

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Speaker 1: lived there basically until I got off the real world.

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Speaker 1: How would you describe yourself as a kid? Exactly like

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Speaker 1: my kids. I have a four and a half and

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Speaker 1: three year old and they have way too much energy.

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Speaker 1: Like when I say way too much energy, I'm like,

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Speaker 1: I have a lot of energy, Like I know I

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Speaker 1: am high, like I am high energy person. But these kids, man,

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Speaker 1: they they'll worry out tell you what. And now I

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Speaker 1: really appreciate my parents even more having kids because man,

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Speaker 1: it's it's gruel. It's it's not that it's grueling. It's

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Speaker 1: it's great. You love them to death, but man, it

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Speaker 1: is tough because they just want to play at all

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Speaker 1: times and sometimes you just want to sit down and

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Speaker 1: relax and have you time. But I'll try to talk

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Speaker 1: to my wife and my kids would be like, dada, dada, dada.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm just starting. I just want to talk

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Speaker 1: to Maurice just for five minutes. Is that okay? That

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Speaker 1: that that a It's like all right, you played basketball

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Speaker 1: and cross country. Would you consider yourself like, were you

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Speaker 1: an athletic kid? Was sports like was that your main

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Speaker 1: focus and interest when you were a kid? Yeah, definitely,

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Speaker 1: I was very sports oriented. I wasn't very good at them,

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Speaker 1: Like I was a captain of the cross country and

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Speaker 1: baseball team. I played basketball, football, I swam a year.

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Speaker 1: It was funny actually, uh my, uh, I don't even

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Speaker 1: know if I had told this story before. So when

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Speaker 1: I was in high school, I was on the basketball team,

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Speaker 1: and my sophomore year I got on the varsity team

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Speaker 1: and played the varsity team, and the next year I

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Speaker 1: got cut and I didn't understand it, Like I was like,

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Speaker 1: how do you get cut? And I wasn't like it

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Speaker 1: wasn't like I was a rude person or a bad

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Speaker 1: kid or anything that. Like, I was very devoted, very dedicated,

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Speaker 1: hard working. I just didn't understand how you can make

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Speaker 1: the varsity team your sophomore year and then junior year

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Speaker 1: nothing really, If anything, I got better and bigger and

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Speaker 1: everyone liked me on the team, and it wasn't like

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Speaker 1: there was some sort of thing. I didn't understand what happened.

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Speaker 1: I went home and I was like dad, like, the

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Speaker 1: weirdest thing happened, Like I got cut from the basketball team.

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Speaker 1: My dad was like, yeah, I figured that, I got

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Speaker 1: What do you mean you figured that? Bees? Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: got a fight with your coach um last year. I

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Speaker 1: didn't want to tell you about it because I didn't

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Speaker 1: think it would I thought it would blow over. But uh,

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Speaker 1: I'm probably the reason why you got cut. Like my

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Speaker 1: dad got in a full blown fight with my coach

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Speaker 1: which got me cut from the team. Now here's how

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Speaker 1: I know this is true. So I went for out

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Speaker 1: for I was like, I had to do something during

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Speaker 1: my I just get bored real easy. So I went

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Speaker 1: to for the swimming team and I was one of

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Speaker 1: the best swimmers on the team. And the next year,

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Speaker 1: this coach got fired and I tried out for the

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Speaker 1: varsity team. Guess what, I made the team. So it

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Speaker 1: was literally like like that was what happened, and it

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Speaker 1: was crazy. And I know with off the beat you

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Speaker 1: like to talk about acting. In my school we did

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Speaker 1: have theater, but I never I never even thought about

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Speaker 1: it because it was so sports oriented and I wish

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Speaker 1: I did because I love entertaining, I love acting, but

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Speaker 1: I also loved sports. So I really didn't have the

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Speaker 1: time to do the theater, but I'd always go to

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Speaker 1: the plays and watch them and think, wow, these guys

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Speaker 1: are so great at this. But you would go, you

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Speaker 1: would go and watch Okay, Yeah, absolutely. Was a press

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Speaker 1: into the student government and then senior editor of the

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Speaker 1: year book. Like I was highly involved with the school.

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Speaker 1: So uh, whenever you're like president of anything, you should

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Speaker 1: go to everything is what I'm It was instilled in me.

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Speaker 1: So as president student government, I would go to all

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Speaker 1: all the functions and try to just you know, meet

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Speaker 1: people and talk to people and have a great time.

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Speaker 1: And I would go to these things and they were

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Speaker 1: so good, like even back then, like watching them, you know,

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Speaker 1: watching some of the kids that would do the plays,

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Speaker 1: I'd be like, wow, that's so amazing. And I never

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Speaker 1: thought I could ever do anything like that. Like coming

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Speaker 1: from Cleveland, I was always like I want to be

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Speaker 1: a basketball, baseball, football player, but I was never the athlete.

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Speaker 1: And then once I got to college, I started realizing

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Speaker 1: I was like, I don't I don't want to do business,

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Speaker 1: Like I wouldn't mind peop Ohio and my pet Ohio

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Speaker 1: has a great like theater school, like very good in acting.

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Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't even think to go there, and

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Speaker 1: nobody actually like that. I knew went to that side

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Speaker 1: of the campus, but it was a really cool side,

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Speaker 1: um is more artsy, and so I never went over there.

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Speaker 1: But I was wished in high school and in college

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Speaker 1: that I would have done theater. It wasn't until I

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Speaker 1: got on the real world. It made me realize, screw everything,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna try and do everything I possibly can. Right,

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Speaker 1: So okay, so let's let's take this moment for a second.

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Speaker 1: So you, I mean, your president of student council, your

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Speaker 1: head of the yearbook, you're playing three varsity sports or

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Speaker 1: whatever it is. So I mean, you're incredibly active and

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Speaker 1: involved and you decided to go to Miami of Ohio

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Speaker 1: study business whatever. But what what did you at that moment?

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Speaker 1: What did you see yourself doing? Like? Where did you

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Speaker 1: did your life going? You didn't. I didn't. I had

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Speaker 1: no idea, Like I thought. My dad owned a Mr. Hero,

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Speaker 1: which is kind of like a like a hot subway

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Speaker 1: sandwich if you will, like it's it's like a Cleveland

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Speaker 1: version of like a better subway. Think of it like that.

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Speaker 1: And so Billy Chi Steakes like I worked there. I

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Speaker 1: worked there from when I would fourteen. I bought my

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Speaker 1: first car because I didn't want my dad to pay

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Speaker 1: for my car, because a lot of kids in school

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Speaker 1: would have their parents buy their cars. I didn't want that.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to buy my own car on my own.

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Speaker 1: So I spent like three summers just saving, saving, saving

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Speaker 1: until I could buy my first car, which was a

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Speaker 1: V six Firebird and it looked like kit and I

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Speaker 1: thought it was the coolest thing ever. So I worked

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Speaker 1: for my dad at Mr. Hero. Then I also worked

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Speaker 1: at J. C. Penny as a stock boy, and Abercrombie

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Speaker 1: and Fitch as a greeter. So I had many jobs.

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Speaker 1: And then once I got into Miami of Ohio, which

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Speaker 1: once you get done with with high school, you basically

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Speaker 1: are like, all right, what do I do? I go

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Speaker 1: to college. That's that's the standard where where I'm from,

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Speaker 1: you know, nothing else was even in my mind. So

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Speaker 1: I went to college and I was like, all right,

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Speaker 1: what do I do? Like, I don't know what I

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Speaker 1: want to do with the rest of my life, my

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Speaker 1: own my own business like my dad, So maybe I

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Speaker 1: should just go in business. And it was a very

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Speaker 1: good business school, very public school to get into and

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Speaker 1: so I went there and I just I would do

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Speaker 1: terrible in all of my like business classes, but all

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Speaker 1: of like like I did Greek mythology and art history

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Speaker 1: and I get straight a's and it was just like

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Speaker 1: I wasn't into the business side of it. And got

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Speaker 1: into a fraternity. Yeah, I got into a fraternity, uh,

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Speaker 1: Theta Kai. And then I saw I was watching I

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Speaker 1: would sitting at home watching TV and it said, do

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Speaker 1: you want to try out for the Real World? And

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Speaker 1: I was like, uh, yeah, definitely, Like I want to

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Speaker 1: be on TV. Okay, so did you did you watch

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Speaker 1: The Real World? Yes, you're a fan of the Real World?

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Speaker 1: Then yeah, it was. It was the biggest show in

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Speaker 1: in my demographic if you will, like you know, a

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Speaker 1: teenager going out of you know, high school into college,

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Speaker 1: like that was the prime time for the Real World.

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget like sitting at home sick when I

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Speaker 1: was in eighth grade watching the seasons like the I

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Speaker 1: think it was the third season San Francisco with Pedro

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Speaker 1: and Puck, and I was like, this is the greatest

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Speaker 1: show ever. And I and and now actually being on it.

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Speaker 1: I get people all the time that tell me like

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Speaker 1: I watched the Real World or everyone has their season

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Speaker 1: that they invested in that they watched, at least my

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Speaker 1: generation does, and so it's kind of interesting to hear,

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Speaker 1: you know, different people in their different views and what

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Speaker 1: what show they watched, like because I was I was

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Speaker 1: in San Francisco and New Orleans person that I watched

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Speaker 1: those seasons of the Real World, and that's what made

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Speaker 1: me want to be on the Real World. You auditioned

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Speaker 1: by sending in a VHS tape basically, guys that that

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Speaker 1: would existed back in the sixties, what what was its

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Speaker 1: eight and nineties two? I mean there was my camera phones.

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Speaker 1: I know what was on the tape, all right, So

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Speaker 1: I would videotape everything. So I would have parties at

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Speaker 1: my house and I would videotape and I had the

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Speaker 1: camera over the shoulder. I don't know if you remember

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Speaker 1: those back in the big, big order camp order. I

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Speaker 1: had one of those things, and I would videotape everything.

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Speaker 1: And so i'd video tape just different things that I

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Speaker 1: would do in my life, partying, dancing, you know, hanging

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Speaker 1: out with friends, that kind of stuff. So I edited

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Speaker 1: an entire video together. Now nowadays kids can edit on

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Speaker 1: their computers. Back then, we didn't have like the computers

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Speaker 1: and the editing tools to do that. So you had

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Speaker 1: to hook up your camcorder to your VHS tape and

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Speaker 1: press play on the camcorder and then record on the

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Speaker 1: tape on the VHS and then stop at the same time.

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Speaker 1: You're doing your left hand in your right hand and

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Speaker 1: you stop it at the same time, and then you

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Speaker 1: like fast forward on the camcorder and then you press

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Speaker 1: record on your on your VHS and play and it's

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Speaker 1: like that's how you edited. So that was my edited. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that was my editing technique. And just how that is unbelievable. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's pretty crazy. Wow, And what did you did? You

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Speaker 1: deliver like a monologue like, yeah, I did a whole

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Speaker 1: Like here's why you should choose me. I'm from Parmer, Ohio.

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Speaker 1: I go to college. This is who I am. Gave

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Speaker 1: him a whole thing. My parents were divorced when I

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Speaker 1: was in fifth grade. Uh. You know, when you're going

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Speaker 1: on in the real world, you tell them all your drama,

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Speaker 1: all your ups, all your downs. But I like to

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Speaker 1: make it more entertaining and energetic, and so I uh,

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Speaker 1: that's kind of how I did my monologue if you will. Okay,

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Speaker 1: So this this is where I'm starting to go deep

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Speaker 1: with you here because I want to know at this

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Speaker 1: moment and obviously could change, But at this moment, what

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Speaker 1: did you perceive as the greatest reason that you should

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Speaker 1: be on the show? Was Yeah, Like, was there a

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Speaker 1: quality within you that that you were saying to them,

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Speaker 1: this is why you should choose me. I'm the most

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Speaker 1: fun person you'll ever have on your entire show. Like that,

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Speaker 1: That's that was basically the gist of it. Like I

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Speaker 1: am You're token frat boy that will literally go out

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Speaker 1: and party and have fun, and I'm an open book.

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Speaker 1: And I didn't realize that being an open book on

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Speaker 1: TV was so difficult for people like me. Whenever there

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Speaker 1: was a camera around, like a professional camera anywhere, and

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Speaker 1: I'm talking like if they were there was a news thing,

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Speaker 1: and I would literally be up behind it trying to

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Speaker 1: get on the TV to do an interview. If you

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Speaker 1: look at Netflix right now, there's a show of Woodstock

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Speaker 1: train Wreck. I went to Woodstock ninety nine and I

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Speaker 1: got in front of this camera and was like, Woodstock

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Speaker 1: ninety nine, Baby had no idea this was out there

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Speaker 1: at all until that documentary came out on Netflix this

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Speaker 1: year and they used me as like their first person,

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Speaker 1: like guy, they didn't say it was the miss, but

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Speaker 1: everyone on the internet was like, is that the miss?

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Speaker 1: Is that the miss of it? Yeah? That was me.

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Speaker 1: That was like eighteen year old miss out of high

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Speaker 1: school going to honestly what I thought was the greatest

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Speaker 1: concert I've ever been to. In that tape, and as

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Speaker 1: you began the real world, are you playing a character?

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Speaker 1: Are you showing yourself? I? I, uh so when I

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Speaker 1: got on that show, like it's interesting. So I started

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Speaker 1: in August and I didn't get on the show until February.

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Speaker 1: Like that's how long the audition process took. So I

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Speaker 1: sent in a videotape. Then I got had this fifty

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Speaker 1: page application asking everything and anything about my life. Then

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Speaker 1: you do like a sit down interview where you have

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Speaker 1: a camera in front of you and you videotape it

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Speaker 1: and they're on your speaker phone and you are talking

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Speaker 1: directly to the camera and they're asking you questions and

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Speaker 1: these aren't your normal, average every day questions. Like the

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Speaker 1: one question that sticks in my mind to this day

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Speaker 1: is Mike, you're an onion? And I peel Away, your

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Speaker 1: fraternity at peel Away, your friends at peel Away, your family,

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Speaker 1: what's at the core of Mike mazzanin And I literally

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Speaker 1: was like at a loss for words, and I was like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know, I I don't know. And it was

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Speaker 1: an honest answer and an honest question. And then the

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Speaker 1: next interview I had in person interview. And when I

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Speaker 1: was there it was like in Detroit. I had to

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Speaker 1: drive from my me Bhio to Detroit in my Firebird,

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Speaker 1: drove up there and I had to wait like fifteen minutes.

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Speaker 1: So I saw all these girls and they were all

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Speaker 1: going to prom so I kind of went up to him,

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Speaker 1: sort of talking to him, not realizing that the producer

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Speaker 1: is going to come down and see me talking to

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Speaker 1: like ten girls. I was like, oh, wow, this probably

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Speaker 1: was a good thing anyway, So go up there. I

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Speaker 1: talked to them in this interview, and you ever see

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Speaker 1: people on reality shows and they're bawling, crying, and you're like,

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Speaker 1: why is this person crying? Like, I don't get it.

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Speaker 1: I don't get like. That's that was my mentality until

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Speaker 1: I got into that interview and they were not necessarily

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Speaker 1: dissecting me, but asking questions that I've never been asked before,

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Speaker 1: and questions that I felt meant something, and and it

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Speaker 1: made me, I don't know, think, And you know, when

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Speaker 1: you're just living your life, you don't ever have people.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes you don't have people that really challenge you. And

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Speaker 1: I thought this show was really going to challenge me.

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Speaker 1: And so I was like driving back from Detroit to Miami,

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Speaker 1: I was like, I have to make this show. I

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Speaker 1: have to make this show. This is gonna make me

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Speaker 1: better and a better person. And so that's what happened.

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Speaker 1: Like I got done, went on the show, and I

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Speaker 1: didn't play a character. I was Mike until I was

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Speaker 1: on the show, and I was just uncomfortable. Now was

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Speaker 1: New York for the first time in my life. It

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Speaker 1: was a big city, is a melting pot, all this diversity,

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Speaker 1: so many people from different backgrounds, different ways of life,

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Speaker 1: different ways of thinking. And I am an unfiltered person,

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Speaker 1: so I just speak whatsever on my mind, and I

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Speaker 1: was hurting people's feelings and I didn't realize it and

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Speaker 1: didn't know. And then finally, like everyone started not liking me.

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Speaker 1: It felt like I was the outcast of the show.

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Speaker 1: And it was the first time in my life, I've

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Speaker 1: ever been an outcast anywhere. I was always able to

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Speaker 1: fit in, always able to be a chameleon, if you will.

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Speaker 1: And this was the first time that I couldn't do that,

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Speaker 1: and nobody liked me no matter what what I did.

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Speaker 1: And so I created this character called the Miss, which

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Speaker 1: was a w W E wrestler that was basically cutting

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Speaker 1: promos on everyone. And so I would get hammered and

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Speaker 1: literally just start cutting promos on everyone, telling him exactly

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Speaker 1: how I felt. And everyone loved the Miss but didn't

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Speaker 1: like Mike. And so everyone will always be like, do

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Speaker 1: the Miss, do the Miss, Do the Miss? Do the Miss.

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Speaker 1: So I just keep on doing the Miss, keep on

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Speaker 1: doing the Miss, keep on doing the Miss. So you asked,

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Speaker 1: did I was I a character on that show? No,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't. I was. I always look at the real

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Speaker 1: world is as real as real can get with cameras

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Speaker 1: in front of you. But the first week, so we

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00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:41,959
Speaker 1: had this, uh this tryout right where we all went

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Speaker 1: to Palm Springs before we were on the real world.

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Speaker 1: It was a tryout. It was like twenty six people

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Speaker 1: were brought there and they had cameras and everyone was

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Speaker 1: talking about all these different things, like as soon as

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Speaker 1: you meet them, like they were talking about religion. Uh,

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Speaker 1: all these different issues that were at the time very important.

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Speaker 1: But you don't meet them and say, Hi, I'm Mike

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Speaker 1: Mazzen and uh, this is my religion, this is who

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00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,320
Speaker 1: I You don't you don't just do that. And that's

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Speaker 1: what everyone was doing. And I literally in an interview,

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Speaker 1: I went, this is the biggest thing I ever seen

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Speaker 1: in my life. But three days into that that shoot,

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Speaker 1: I guess you can say people started getting real and

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Speaker 1: it started you started forgetting about the cameras. So once

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Speaker 1: you're on the real world, the first week is a

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Speaker 1: little weird, but then it just becomes the norm and

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00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:27,080
Speaker 1: you're just in front of a camera. Yeah that makes sense.

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Speaker 1: I mean this is fairly early early days of reality TV.

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Speaker 1: What was your experience with other people in your life

401
00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,439
Speaker 1: about you becoming like a reality TV star? People supportive?

402
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,600
Speaker 1: Was it difficult for you or what happened? I was

403
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Speaker 1: leaving college. There was no way my parents were gonna

404
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Speaker 1: be like, yeah, great, you're going to do this show.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone

406
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Speaker 1: that I was going to be on a reality show.

407
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Speaker 1: You had to tell. You had to be like, hey,

408
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Speaker 1: I'm going away for a little while. So I debated

409
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Speaker 1: telling my parents. And the reason I've debated is because

410
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,520
Speaker 1: my parents have big mouths and they'll tell everyone. So

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Speaker 1: I kind of like said it like this. I was like, Mom, Dad,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna go do this thing in New York and

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Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be big and it's gonna help

414
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Speaker 1: me and it's gonna be great. I'm gonna leave college.

415
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Speaker 1: What what is it? I can't tell you. And so

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Speaker 1: they were not happy with that, but I did it

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00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,320
Speaker 1: anyway because I knew. I just knew there was something

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Speaker 1: about it, something that was you know when you feel

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Speaker 1: something and there's something inside you that are like, this

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Speaker 1: is right, this, this is where I need to be,

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00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,080
Speaker 1: This is where I need to go. That was that moment.

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Speaker 1: And if I didn't do that just then and there,

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Speaker 1: I would sit in college plug probably flunk out, go

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Speaker 1: back to Cleveland and stay there for the rest of

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Speaker 1: my life and never feel that fire ever again. So

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00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 1: sometimes you get chances in life where there's a fire

427
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,880
Speaker 1: and you feel it and you're scared of it because

428
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,560
Speaker 1: everyone's telling you not to do it, and you're like, no,

429
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,679
Speaker 1: I can't. I have to do it. I have to

430
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,159
Speaker 1: do this. I have stick to my guns and I

431
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,000
Speaker 1: believe it. I feel like so many people don't do

432
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:25,119
Speaker 1: it because of what everyone else is telling them. I

433
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,679
Speaker 1: read you were a fan of wrestling when you were

434
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: a kid. You create this persona the miss on the

435
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,639
Speaker 1: real world. When does the idea began to come into

436
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,240
Speaker 1: your mind that that could be a direction that you

437
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 1: you move. It didn't until I until I like, as

438
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 1: a kid, you're not thinking just because I love a show,

439
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 1: you're actually going to do it and be on it.

440
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,679
Speaker 1: Like I loved w w E. I loved it. I

441
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: loved Ultimate Warrior. I loved the pain in his face,

442
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,879
Speaker 1: streamers on his arm, I loved his energy when he

443
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 1: when that music hit and he came out, I was like,

444
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:04,959
Speaker 1: oh my god, that's the outside my Warrior, you know

445
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,160
Speaker 1: it was. It was amazing to me. And these guys

446
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 1: were larger than life, and I believed in him. I

447
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,119
Speaker 1: had every action figure that you could imagine. Like I

448
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,400
Speaker 1: talked about wrestling NonStop as a kid, and so you

449
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 1: never believe as a child that you could actually become

450
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,320
Speaker 1: a w w E superstar. There's just no way, no option,

451
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,679
Speaker 1: and it's it's I never even thought of it until

452
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: I got on the Real World and right, that's what

453
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 1: I was saying. So you at that moment you've created this,

454
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,679
Speaker 1: people are loving them, miss is this this is what

455
00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: starts the idea like maybe you could do this? Yes,

456
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 1: I I was like, maybe I can do this. So

457
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: as soon as I got home from the Real World,

458
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,320
Speaker 1: I was sitting in my bedroom in Parma, Ohio and

459
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,320
Speaker 1: my dad's condo, and I was like, am I going

460
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 1: to go back to college or am I going to

461
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 1: pursue this? And so I was calling, like being to Murray,

462
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,400
Speaker 1: the production company that did Real World, trying to get

463
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,399
Speaker 1: on you know, the challenges, because that was the next thing.

464
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,000
Speaker 1: It was like, once you're on the Real World, I

465
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 1: want to be on the Real World road Rules Challenges.

466
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,840
Speaker 1: And now today there's like ten challenges. They're like everyone

467
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 1: anyone could be on it. Back then it was just

468
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,199
Speaker 1: Real World and road Rules, and I wanted to be

469
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 1: one of those cast members. So I got on the

470
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: show and actually won the show, and so I got money.

471
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:22,879
Speaker 1: So I was like, because I was broke once I

472
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:24,879
Speaker 1: got off the Real World. You don't get paid like

473
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,199
Speaker 1: people were like, Oh, you're on TV, You're a millionaire. No,

474
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:29,680
Speaker 1: that's not necessarily true. I was on a reality show.

475
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 1: I didn't get paid very much, like literally nothing. I went.

476
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,680
Speaker 1: I went. Actually, I maxed out my credit cards because

477
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,879
Speaker 1: I wanted to live the life of a person on television.

478
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: And so once I paid off those credit cards with

479
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 1: everything everything I had left over, I was sitting in

480
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:46,919
Speaker 1: my room and I was like, all right, what do

481
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 1: I want to do with my life? And I looked

482
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,359
Speaker 1: in the mirror and there was an action figure of

483
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,200
Speaker 1: the Rock that my my roommates gave me and were like, hey,

484
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be a w W superstar. So I went

485
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,679
Speaker 1: on Google. I checked up all right, wrestling schools. How

486
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 1: do you how do you do it? Like? How does it?

487
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 1: Does it even work? So I saw ohil Valley Wrestling. Okay,

488
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 1: I could go to Louisville and learn there, or I

489
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 1: can go to l A with Ultimate Pro Wrestling. I'm

490
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:11,480
Speaker 1: going to l A. So I moved to l A.

491
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,919
Speaker 1: People from Buna Murray found me a place uh that

492
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 1: I literally lived with roommates from Buna Murray and then

493
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:24,399
Speaker 1: I went to Ultimate Pro Wrestling pays to learn the

494
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: art of professional wrestling, and then I was like, all right,

495
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:31,200
Speaker 1: what is wrestling? Wrestling isn't just wrestling, it's acting, it's improv.

496
00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:35,639
Speaker 1: So I went to acting school from Steven Anderson, who

497
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,280
Speaker 1: was a great acting coach. And then I also was like,

498
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,520
Speaker 1: all right, I need to go to Groundlings. I need

499
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: to go to Improv Olympics. So I went to those

500
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,160
Speaker 1: two places and then the real world was like real

501
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 1: world was like hey, awesome, yeah, So then real world

502
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,440
Speaker 1: was like, hey, do you want to do like when

503
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,600
Speaker 1: you get off the real world? Pedro started this thing

504
00:26:57,600 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: from real world San Francisco, where you would go to

505
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,880
Speaker 1: colleges and speak to students about your experience because it's

506
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 1: so much like being in college, and they would pay

507
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,560
Speaker 1: you for it. So I started doing motivational speeches and

508
00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,879
Speaker 1: I looked at that is a way to perform in

509
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,919
Speaker 1: front of a live audience. So I would always have

510
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,760
Speaker 1: a promo in my mind of who the miss was,

511
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,679
Speaker 1: and I would cut a promo at each one, but

512
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: then have this speech about motivating people to do stuff

513
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,680
Speaker 1: with their lives. And there was a kid that never

514
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 1: graduated college getting paid to go to colleges to talk

515
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 1: to students. It's crazy, right, So that's how I would

516
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,360
Speaker 1: make money. And then I started. I started making T shirts.

517
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 1: I got myself a logo for on a person that

518
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,720
Speaker 1: would that would do a logo for me for unnor

519
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 1: Bucks because I wasn't really rich, so I started making

520
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 1: a T shirt lines because I was like, all right,

521
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,440
Speaker 1: WW has a bunch of merch. All their superstars sell merch.

522
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 1: Maybe if WW sees me on TV talking about being

523
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,600
Speaker 1: a w W superstar, they know that I'm trying to

524
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 1: become a WW superstar by learning the professional art of wrestling.

525
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,159
Speaker 1: I'm also trying to act. I'm trying to improv. I'm

526
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 1: working on my body to get bigger because everyone was

527
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,480
Speaker 1: like six seven three pounds and I wasn't, uh so,

528
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 1: what's gonna stand me out? And then also I wanted

529
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:09,879
Speaker 1: to make sure that my merch was out there that

530
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,200
Speaker 1: I could tell them, hey, I'm selling merch, like even

531
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 1: though I'm not in w W, E I am valuable.

532
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,159
Speaker 1: I can, I can, I'm I can do something. So

533
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:19,800
Speaker 1: and the best part was when I would go on

534
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,679
Speaker 1: the challenges, people weren't jealous of the fact that I

535
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,439
Speaker 1: was bringing T shirts and hats. They were supportive and

536
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,520
Speaker 1: that doesn't happen very often. And everyone from the crew

537
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 1: from the cast members even to this day, have always

538
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: been so supportive of of me and and and my

539
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 1: dreams and everything that I've wanted to do. And they

540
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,120
Speaker 1: literally if you watched The Inferno, which I think it's

541
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: on like either Paramount Plus or and Netflix, one of

542
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 1: the two. But if you watch that, people are all

543
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 1: wearing my my my gear, like my T shirts and

544
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,480
Speaker 1: my hats with my logo on it, and I'm being

545
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 1: the miss on the show and everyone's loving it. And

546
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:01,760
Speaker 1: by the way, the next season that was my I

547
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 1: believe my last season, they basically said no one's allowed

548
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,120
Speaker 1: to do T shirts anymore or hats because I ruined

549
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:14,360
Speaker 1: it for everyone. Uh so you you do all of

550
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,600
Speaker 1: the this. I did not know this. You were going

551
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: to improv Olympic. That's unbelievable. Um, you then go on

552
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 1: tough Enough talk a little bit about tough enough. So

553
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 1: three years into training, I'm not making any noise through

554
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: w w E. I've been backstage and every time they're like,

555
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,600
Speaker 1: hey we do an interview for w w E dot com.

556
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: Absolutely no problem, whatever you need. And they never would

557
00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 1: give me a contract, never give me any like they

558
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: just wanted to basically put me on dot com and say, hey,

559
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,440
Speaker 1: the miss backstage uh from the Real World loves w

560
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 1: w A. But no one was. It wasn't catching anything.

561
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,920
Speaker 1: I wasn't getting what we call dark matches. I wasn't

562
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 1: getting these matches where you know, you could wrestle and

563
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 1: show what you can do. And so I was like, man,

564
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,560
Speaker 1: I don't know if this is ever gonna happen. There's

565
00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: always those doubts, you know. And in three years, I

566
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 1: did five um challenges, making it to the end on

567
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 1: a lot of them. The MS was honestly, any time

568
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 1: I would go anywhere, I was recognized, like it takes

569
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,640
Speaker 1: I always think it takes five seasons or five five

570
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 1: shows to really get recognized by everyone. Um, that's when

571
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 1: it's like you're a staple. And so with the Real

572
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:26,480
Speaker 1: World on my fifth season, I was like, my god,

573
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 1: I literally it's five Like everyone recognizes me, but I'm

574
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 1: still not making any noise with w w E. And

575
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,520
Speaker 1: then I got a call, would you like to try

576
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,480
Speaker 1: out for Tough Enough? And I said I would love to,

577
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:38,720
Speaker 1: but I tried. I wanted to try out two years

578
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 1: ago and they wouldn't let me because back then you

579
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: couldn't be on two reality shows. You couldn't be on

580
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 1: Real World and The Challenges and Tough Enough because it

581
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: was all at MTV. And they were like, well, it's

582
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,560
Speaker 1: not an MTV anymore, it's on CW. And so I

583
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:55,480
Speaker 1: was like, I'm in. He's like, all right, you have

584
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 1: to try out. There's fifty people gonna try out. It's

585
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:00,200
Speaker 1: in Venice Beach. I was like, no problem, I make

586
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 1: my way there, went to Venice Beach and tried out

587
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,320
Speaker 1: and made it onto the show that I believe there

588
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,880
Speaker 1: was eight of us, and they put us through the ringer.

589
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 1: Like every week we'd have to go to Connecticut and train,

590
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,320
Speaker 1: and the training would be like taking five bumps, and

591
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 1: a bump is when you flat back onto the ground,

592
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 1: Like think about like just straight back to your like

593
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,040
Speaker 1: if someone shoved you and you just landed straight on

594
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,280
Speaker 1: your back. So taking five hundred of those, you are sore,

595
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 1: your body hurts, you're getting bumps, you're getting bruises, and

596
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:36,360
Speaker 1: you have to do it every day to train to

597
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 1: get ready to learn the art of professional wrestling. And

598
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: by the way, I've already been three years in, so

599
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 1: I knew how to do a lot of the stuff

600
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 1: that they were training us to do. But you couldn't

601
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:47,880
Speaker 1: have a big head, you know, you couldn't be like,

602
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 1: oh I know this stuff already, ha ha. Like I'm

603
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 1: not gonna tell al snow and build a mop that

604
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 1: absolutely not. Like, so, you know, we were training and

605
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,480
Speaker 1: it seemed like fans were getting into us, and it

606
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 1: was through and vote on how you were going to

607
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,760
Speaker 1: win or lose. And I've always been a punchable face.

608
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,720
Speaker 1: I guess you can say a bad guy. And so

609
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: I ended up coming in second place. So I didn't

610
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,160
Speaker 1: win tough enough, and I'll never forget. They were like,

611
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,960
Speaker 1: you know, you impressed us so much that you know,

612
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: maybe there is something for you here. And so they

613
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: brought me up to Connecticut to commentate. I don't think

614
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 1: I've ever told this story. Actually they brought me up.

615
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,400
Speaker 1: So Joey Styles brought me up with Todd Grisham and

616
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: Michael Cole. They all brought me up and I had

617
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:38,840
Speaker 1: to do a take of commentating and they told me, hey,

618
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,760
Speaker 1: we think we're thinking we might bring you in as

619
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 1: a commentator or an interviewer. And it was the first time.

620
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,080
Speaker 1: I like, I said, but I want to be a

621
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 1: WW superstar and they were like yeah, Like they didn't

622
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 1: look at me like a w W superstar. They looked

623
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 1: at me as a personality. But I saw something different.

624
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 1: I was like, no, Like, I love what you guys do,

625
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 1: and I think you guys do a great job, but

626
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 1: I want to be, like I want to be bigger

627
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: than the Rock. I want to be bigger than than

628
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 1: than Hogan. I want to be I want to be

629
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,480
Speaker 1: a superstar like and they were like, all right, okay,

630
00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,560
Speaker 1: And so they gave me a developmental deal to go

631
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 1: down and they didn't. They did not think I was

632
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 1: gonna be much of anything. To be honest, you could

633
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,040
Speaker 1: you could kind of tell they were like, hey, let's

634
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,760
Speaker 1: see what we got here, because I remember I was like,

635
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 1: they gave me this developmental contract and I was like,

636
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,480
Speaker 1: I'm making more than this doing the real world and

637
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: the challenges and stuff like I'm gonna take a pay

638
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:34,920
Speaker 1: cut to do this. And I had to think about that, like,

639
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:39,360
Speaker 1: all right, are we looking at this is a career

640
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,840
Speaker 1: move because sometimes you have to take you know less

641
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 1: because you see the big picture and you you see

642
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: them more and That's exactly what I did. I said, Okay,

643
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: I'll take less money, I will go there and I

644
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,360
Speaker 1: will train and I'll prove everyone wrong. And I became

645
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:58,520
Speaker 1: the first ever Deep South Heavyweight Champion. Uh. The first

646
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,040
Speaker 1: thing they tell us is like, when you can sell

647
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,800
Speaker 1: out this territory like we called it, like a territory

648
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,239
Speaker 1: like Deep South Wrestling and mcdonnah Georgia. If you can

649
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,320
Speaker 1: sell out our little arena which is like two people,

650
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,120
Speaker 1: then you can go to Ohio Valley, which is like

651
00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:14,680
Speaker 1: which is the other territory. If you can sell that

652
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 1: one out, then maybe you can come to w W

653
00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 1: E and SmackDown and raw and then that's where you

654
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,280
Speaker 1: know you can make some money. So we were selling

655
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 1: out shows at Deep South Wrestling and I was the

656
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,520
Speaker 1: first ever Deep South Heavyweight Champion. And I was a

657
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:31,719
Speaker 1: good guy. People loved me. And Paul Hayman, who is

658
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 1: a huge influential person in wrestling in the wrestling world

659
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 1: like created e c W. He was was like, all right,

660
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 1: we're moving you to Ohio Valley Wrestling. So I went

661
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,280
Speaker 1: to Ohio val Wrestling and Paul Haman was the first

662
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:48,520
Speaker 1: person that said you're not a baby face because I was.

663
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,040
Speaker 1: I connected with the Deep South people, like all the

664
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: people loved me and thought it was a baby face

665
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:54,719
Speaker 1: and would buy my shirts and everything like that saw

666
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,480
Speaker 1: me off the real world. When I went I was

667
00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,200
Speaker 1: a good guy. I was absolutely good guy. You know,

668
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,759
Speaker 1: everyone's a big smile on my face. Hey cheer me,

669
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,800
Speaker 1: rah rah ra. So then I go to Ohio Valley

670
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,719
Speaker 1: Wrestling and they weren't cheering me. They were just it

671
00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:10,839
Speaker 1: was kind of just men, you know, like all right,

672
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:12,640
Speaker 1: what do you got kid, Let's see what you got.

673
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,080
Speaker 1: And it was a different territory. It was a different group,

674
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,800
Speaker 1: and I didn't realize like different areas. I don't know

675
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,520
Speaker 1: in theater when you go to like say Atlanta and

676
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:22,720
Speaker 1: then you go to Broadway, then you go to different

677
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 1: is it different audiences? Do you do you do you

678
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,440
Speaker 1: feel the different audiences? Do you feel the energy? Okay,

679
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,239
Speaker 1: so it's the same thing. So we went to Oil

680
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 1: Valor Wrestling and it was just different and I was like,

681
00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,560
Speaker 1: oh man, and I wasn't getting we call it over.

682
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 1: We I wasn't connecting with the audience. And so Paul

683
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,800
Speaker 1: comes to me and goes, you know why you're not connecting?

684
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:48,640
Speaker 1: I go, no, He's like, you're not a baby face,

685
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,759
Speaker 1: You're a heel, which is a bad guy. And I

686
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,279
Speaker 1: was like, I don't know, man, down there is like

687
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,239
Speaker 1: trust me, you're a heel. So we sat up, we

688
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 1: wrote this promo and I went out there and at

689
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 1: it and I don't think i've ever went back since.

690
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: It would just felt right. Oh my god. It was

691
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,120
Speaker 1: just having people boo me and hate me and get

692
00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 1: under their skin. And I became the biggest bad guy

693
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: in Ohio Valley Wrestling. And so then what happens. You

694
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:22,719
Speaker 1: get taken up to SmackDown in raw And this was

695
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 1: another learning curve because right when I first got to SmackDown,

696
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,040
Speaker 1: which is where they brought me, it was on national

697
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:32,000
Speaker 1: television Live TV, and I was brought in as the host.

698
00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:34,719
Speaker 1: And I'll never forget the first day I was there.

699
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 1: I didn't know what I was doing there. No one

700
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 1: told me anything. I was just there like and they

701
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:41,680
Speaker 1: were like, Vince would like to see you, and I'm like,

702
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,719
Speaker 1: oh boy, I'm going in with that. I'm going to

703
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:47,880
Speaker 1: Vince like this is like the first real conversation, like

704
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:52,680
Speaker 1: I'm going to have with Vince McMahon. Walk in, I'm like, hello, sir,

705
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:54,920
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to be here, and he's and he

706
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,360
Speaker 1: sits down, he just he takes kind of a while,

707
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,440
Speaker 1: like he'll just stare at you and just wait, and

708
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:04,480
Speaker 1: there's that moment and he just waits to see what

709
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,240
Speaker 1: you're gonna do. And I just sat there and stared

710
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 1: at him. We're just staring at each other for an

711
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,839
Speaker 1: awkward amount of time, and he goes, we're gonna make

712
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 1: you the host. I want you to be the Ryan

713
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 1: Seacrest of w w E. And in my head, I'm

714
00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:21,320
Speaker 1: going like, you don't ever want to hear your boss

715
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:23,879
Speaker 1: Like Ryan Seacrest is a hell of a talent, an

716
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:28,239
Speaker 1: amazing talent, incredible host, but when you want to be

717
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 1: the biggest superstar in the world, you don't ever want

718
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:33,880
Speaker 1: to be told you're the host of a show. But

719
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,560
Speaker 1: in my mind, I said, I'm going to get a microphone.

720
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 1: If I can get a microphone and get this audience

721
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:45,360
Speaker 1: to absolutely despise me as the host, then they're gonna

722
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,480
Speaker 1: want to see me get beat up. And if they're

723
00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,399
Speaker 1: gonna see beat up, they gotta put me in the ring.

724
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,120
Speaker 1: If they put me in the ring, they're never gonna

725
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:53,880
Speaker 1: want me to come out of that ring. And so

726
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 1: for the next three four months, I was the host

727
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:01,600
Speaker 1: of SmackDown, and there was a lot of ups and downs.

728
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: Because I was such a good host on SmackDown, they

729
00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:06,400
Speaker 1: made me the host of a Diva Search, which was

730
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,800
Speaker 1: where we which is where I first met my wife,

731
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,759
Speaker 1: by the way, which was w W E's version of

732
00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:13,799
Speaker 1: tough Enough. It's for the women, trying to find the

733
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 1: next women's superstar. And we went in there and I'll

734
00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 1: never forget. I forgot the phone number of like I'm

735
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,399
Speaker 1: on Live TV. We don't have Q cards, we don't

736
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:29,080
Speaker 1: have teleprompters. There's none of that stuff out there. Teleprompters, No, Brian, No,

737
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 1: we don't have teleprompters. We memorize everything, and whatever we forget,

738
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,440
Speaker 1: we just make up. You know. It's it's it's highly

739
00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 1: improm that's what. That's where my my my ground lays

740
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,439
Speaker 1: in prov Olympics come in, let me tell you. But

741
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,080
Speaker 1: so I forgot the number and I wrote it down

742
00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,480
Speaker 1: on my wrist, but I was sweating so much that

743
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:49,759
Speaker 1: it wiped off of my wrist. And what is the

744
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,360
Speaker 1: number one thing you don't forget when you're the host.

745
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,120
Speaker 1: It's the phone number you called to vote in like

746
00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 1: I forgot it, Brian and I it was the first

747
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,600
Speaker 1: time I felt cold sweat. I don't know if you've

748
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:05,840
Speaker 1: ever felt this, where you're out there and you forgot everything.

749
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:09,680
Speaker 1: Your mind goes blank and you nothing even you can't

750
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 1: even put words in your mouth because there's nothing there,

751
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,960
Speaker 1: there's nothing in your brain. You're you're sinking and you

752
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,239
Speaker 1: know it, and it's just like you're in quicksand and

753
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,160
Speaker 1: you can't get out of it. And that's what I

754
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:22,160
Speaker 1: was feeling while I was out there. Luckily, they played

755
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,279
Speaker 1: music and just introed, so I introduced all the girls

756
00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:28,480
Speaker 1: and I was like, great, thank god they just did that. Um.

757
00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:30,839
Speaker 1: But then I went back and I went to Vince

758
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,919
Speaker 1: and I was like, I am so sorry. This will

759
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,680
Speaker 1: never happen again. I will dedicate, I would do whatever

760
00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:38,560
Speaker 1: it takes. I will figure out he goes. I know

761
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:40,719
Speaker 1: it won't happen again. I know you won't allow that

762
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:43,799
Speaker 1: to happen. And it never happened again. And from that

763
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 1: that point, I never wanted that to happen again. So

764
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:49,239
Speaker 1: I would cut promos on everything I'm talking. If I

765
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 1: was stuck in traffic, I would cut a promo on

766
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:52,920
Speaker 1: the traffic. If I was in the shower, I was

767
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:56,239
Speaker 1: cutting promos on shampoo and conditioner. If I was if

768
00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:59,040
Speaker 1: I was you know, running, I was cutting promos on

769
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,160
Speaker 1: the person running next to me, you know, or or

770
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,560
Speaker 1: running across from me, or the tree. I was cutting

771
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,000
Speaker 1: promos on everything. So even if I got that cold

772
00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: sweat again, I would have something in my brain. And

773
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:15,560
Speaker 1: so from there, from hosting they were it worked like

774
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:17,480
Speaker 1: people hated me and despised me and wanted to see

775
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 1: me get my butt whooped. So they put me in

776
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:22,320
Speaker 1: the ring and I went undefeated for like six months.

777
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,880
Speaker 1: And then once I got beat, I had to figure

778
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,200
Speaker 1: out what was next, like how do I elevate and

779
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:33,879
Speaker 1: evolve this character? And they brought me so there was three.

780
00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:36,880
Speaker 1: There was raw SmackDown in E c W, and E

781
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,840
Speaker 1: c W was like the C Show. You know it,

782
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:41,879
Speaker 1: we never say it, but it was the C Show.

783
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 1: It was like where people are trying to figure out

784
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 1: what they're doing. Veterans are in that area to kind

785
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,799
Speaker 1: of boost and you know, give it a rating, but

786
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,680
Speaker 1: you know it's kind of an up and coming kind

787
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,719
Speaker 1: of thing. And that's where I met John Morrison, who

788
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:00,200
Speaker 1: became my tag team partner at the time, and this

789
00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:03,319
Speaker 1: guy taught me so much in the ring. Like I

790
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 1: had the charisma, I had the ability to connect with

791
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:12,600
Speaker 1: an audience, but my in ring skills were okay at best,

792
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 1: you know, and I had to And even though I

793
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:17,239
Speaker 1: was training for three years on the independence, even though

794
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:20,720
Speaker 1: I was training envelopmental and doing well, I just still

795
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,399
Speaker 1: didn't connect in the like I was a reality star

796
00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 1: to everyone, and it's gonna take time to get them

797
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 1: out of that reality star mode because I don't even

798
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,320
Speaker 1: know about you. But in Hollywood. When I went to Hollywood,

799
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:34,759
Speaker 1: like I would tell people, Um, I was on the

800
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:36,839
Speaker 1: real world, and they would look at me, like, look

801
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:38,759
Speaker 1: at you. Like I couldn't get an audition, Brian, Like

802
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,520
Speaker 1: I was trying to audition for stuff before w W

803
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,680
Speaker 1: EAT and they wouldn't even let me audition because I

804
00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: was on the real world and people know exactly who

805
00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:49,560
Speaker 1: I am. So then, you know, back then you weren't

806
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:51,440
Speaker 1: allowed to know who the people are. You have to

807
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,080
Speaker 1: be very hidden, Like actors had to be very hidden

808
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,799
Speaker 1: because you know, you're playing a character and they didn't

809
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 1: want to know your character. And so that's kind of

810
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: where I set, so when I went to w w E,

811
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:05,839
Speaker 1: it was like I was still a reality star. People

812
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:09,279
Speaker 1: didn't like me, and I had to develop myself into

813
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,319
Speaker 1: a w W superstar and gain respect not only in

814
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,040
Speaker 1: the ring, but outside the ring as well. Well. You

815
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:20,840
Speaker 1: have won the w w A Championship twice, the Intercontinental

816
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:27,320
Speaker 1: Championship eight times, United States Champion twice, eight tag team championships,

817
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,239
Speaker 1: giving you a total of twenty overall championships in w

818
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:36,640
Speaker 1: W E, and you became the ww E Triple Crown

819
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 1: Champion and fourteen Grand Slam Champion. I mean, yeah, you

820
00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:47,840
Speaker 1: were a reality star that nobody paid much attention to,

821
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:52,040
Speaker 1: kept pushing you into hosting and holding a mike as

822
00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:55,080
Speaker 1: opposed to doing what you wanted to do. How did

823
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 1: that make you feel? Eventually when you when you began

824
00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,600
Speaker 1: this this ascent really to the place where you are now.

825
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,120
Speaker 1: So when I first won the money in the bank contract,

826
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 1: which is a contract that you can cash in anytime,

827
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:12,240
Speaker 1: anywhere to have a w W Championship match. So say

828
00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 1: the person just got done with the match, got slammed

829
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,719
Speaker 1: with a chair, is laying down and can't get up.

830
00:43:18,239 --> 00:43:20,279
Speaker 1: I could cash in that contract and say, hey, I

831
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:21,960
Speaker 1: want to match this guy right now for the w

832
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:24,400
Speaker 1: W Championship, and that's how I won the championship twice.

833
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 1: Now is a bad guy. There's no better way to

834
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:31,040
Speaker 1: win than that kind of way. And once I won

835
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 1: the first w w E Championship, there was so many naysayers,

836
00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:38,840
Speaker 1: so many people that were like, this guy does not

837
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:43,040
Speaker 1: deserve the title. He's a reality star, he's an outsider.

838
00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 1: I still get it to this day that I'm an outsider,

839
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,560
Speaker 1: you know, coming in looking in, even after eighteen years

840
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 1: of being in this business, you know, still trying to

841
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:55,840
Speaker 1: harness that respect value. I guess that I want and

842
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,160
Speaker 1: so bad, I guess you can say. But when I

843
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 1: wanted that first w championship, nobody wanted it. And then

844
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 1: I went on to main event WrestleMania, which is the

845
00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:10,040
Speaker 1: hardest thing to do, and I was w W champion

846
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,319
Speaker 1: at the time, walked in the w W Champion as

847
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 1: a bad guy in the main event of WrestleMania, and

848
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:20,839
Speaker 1: walked out the w w E Champion at WrestleMania with

849
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 1: the Rocks help granted. But then the Rock gave me

850
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:28,319
Speaker 1: People's elbow at the end, which was fine because I

851
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:31,640
Speaker 1: walked out the w w E champion, uh, And that

852
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:33,919
Speaker 1: was that was one of the most incredible things that's

853
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:36,960
Speaker 1: ever happened in my life. Because, man, I'll tell you

854
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,080
Speaker 1: what you try to get, like it's like getting an

855
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,400
Speaker 1: Oscar or an Emmy or you know, for me, you know,

856
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:47,440
Speaker 1: getting to be the main event. That doesn't happen very often,

857
00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 1: especially to a guy like me who people were so

858
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:55,120
Speaker 1: down on and didn't didn't expect to do anything in

859
00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:57,319
Speaker 1: this business. And then to be able to go there

860
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:01,399
Speaker 1: and main event and do it then and then from

861
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 1: there you think I'm a made man, But I wasn't.

862
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,920
Speaker 1: Like I went on a deep downward spiral where I

863
00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 1: couldn't win anything, and then all of a sudden, you know,

864
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:16,840
Speaker 1: maybe like six years ago, I started understanding what I

865
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:20,920
Speaker 1: had to do to be a top talent in w

866
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,840
Speaker 1: w E. And there's a difference between you know, winning

867
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,920
Speaker 1: at w w E Championship and being a top talent

868
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:32,040
Speaker 1: and not needing a title and still being considered one

869
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,680
Speaker 1: of the most valuable superstars that w w E has.

870
00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:40,799
Speaker 1: And so that's where I've turned my career into being Uh.

871
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:42,879
Speaker 1: I guess you could say a leading man like I

872
00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:46,120
Speaker 1: can be the main focus on Monday Night Raw. I

873
00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:50,160
Speaker 1: could be the main focus on SmackDown. It's like, you know,

874
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:53,759
Speaker 1: I guess having a Michael Scott. You know, he can

875
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,480
Speaker 1: do so many different things. He can give you so

876
00:45:56,520 --> 00:46:01,440
Speaker 1: many different emotions, tell so many different stories. Each superstar

877
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:05,279
Speaker 1: knows their role and basically is trying to become the

878
00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 1: biggest star in w w E, and everyone's there to

879
00:46:07,680 --> 00:46:11,080
Speaker 1: help it. Like I always look at The Office as

880
00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:15,319
Speaker 1: such a great show of so many different characters, and

881
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 1: everybody is, as we say, getting over and everyone knows

882
00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:22,799
Speaker 1: how to get over and nobody everyone knows their role

883
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:25,880
Speaker 1: and what they need to do to get there. It's

884
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:48,360
Speaker 1: kind of the same thing fascinating past current w w

885
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:53,719
Speaker 1: E stars. Compare them two characters from the Office, say

886
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:58,000
Speaker 1: who would be whom? And why? Ready? Michael Scott. I

887
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,640
Speaker 1: would want to be Michael Scott, to be honest. But

888
00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:03,280
Speaker 1: but here's the thing, though, I can't be Michael Scott

889
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:07,240
Speaker 1: because I feel like I'm Jim. Because on Miss and Misses,

890
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 1: which is my reality show on the USA Network, I

891
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,880
Speaker 1: do the Jim look to the camera almost not like

892
00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,640
Speaker 1: almost every episode. And the reason I do that and

893
00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 1: I love so I love what you know, Greg Daniels

894
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:24,000
Speaker 1: and and all your interviews with all the different characters,

895
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:27,640
Speaker 1: the crew, the cast, you know from you know, makeup people,

896
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,640
Speaker 1: the casting directors, every I loved all those interviews to

897
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:34,120
Speaker 1: hear the insights of reasonings on why. And I believe

898
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:36,920
Speaker 1: the reason that that Jim would look at the camera

899
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:40,359
Speaker 1: is because it's so absurd that someone needs to bring

900
00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:43,359
Speaker 1: reality to this is this really happening kind of look?

901
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:46,120
Speaker 1: And Jim would always have that look. And so in

902
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:49,560
Speaker 1: my reality show, if something so absurd is happening, and

903
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,080
Speaker 1: trust me, in my real day to day life, absurd

904
00:47:53,120 --> 00:47:56,200
Speaker 1: things happen that you won't believe is happening, but it

905
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,000
Speaker 1: really is. So I have to give that Jim look

906
00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:02,120
Speaker 1: to the camera to show like I'm in on this

907
00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:05,439
Speaker 1: with you, like I know this is ridiculous, but it's

908
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:09,319
Speaker 1: really funny. So I I kind of I stole that

909
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,359
Speaker 1: from the office because I love the show so much.

910
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:15,760
Speaker 1: So I would reckon. I would say, I'm Jim. Um,

911
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:20,200
Speaker 1: Michael Scott is is the lead. Every story can revolve

912
00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:24,600
Speaker 1: around him, right, so I would say, gosh, it have

913
00:48:24,719 --> 00:48:28,720
Speaker 1: to be like Roman Reigns or a John Cenah. Granted

914
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,160
Speaker 1: it's not the comedy aspect of it's not the airhead

915
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:33,640
Speaker 1: aspect of it. It's not the you know, I wouldn't

916
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:35,560
Speaker 1: call him airhead, but you know what I'm talking about,

917
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:39,879
Speaker 1: Like he's just so absurd. So I would say, as

918
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:42,400
Speaker 1: a lead actor, you'd have to have like a Sena

919
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 1: or a Roman Reigns as like you're Michael Scott. But

920
00:48:46,239 --> 00:48:49,960
Speaker 1: like with the comedy aspect, I mean, Sammy Zane is

921
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:53,719
Speaker 1: doing some really funny stuff in w W E and

922
00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:57,799
Speaker 1: the whole show can revolve around his character, so he

923
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:04,160
Speaker 1: could also be that Michael Scott. I didn't and prep

924
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:06,040
Speaker 1: you for this question, I'll just do one more. Who's

925
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:11,480
Speaker 1: Dwight Shrewd? Dwight Shrewd? Uh? Can Maurice be Pam because

926
00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:15,960
Speaker 1: that's who I marry? And then Dwight Shrewd? Gosh, who

927
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:19,680
Speaker 1: would be Dwight Shrewd who's a weirdo and gets on

928
00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:23,560
Speaker 1: my nerves? Johnny Gargano right now is on my nerves

929
00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:27,600
Speaker 1: or dex uh he who shall not be named uh

930
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:31,799
Speaker 1: shall is always on my nerves? So I guess if

931
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:35,520
Speaker 1: I'm Jim, then right now, in this moment, Johnny Gargano

932
00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:39,160
Speaker 1: has to be Dwight because he's annoying. Okay, are you

933
00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:44,560
Speaker 1: an athlete or you an entertainer primarily primarily entertainer. I

934
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:48,640
Speaker 1: love entertaining and I'm a I'm an athlete as well.

935
00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:50,319
Speaker 1: Like it's a little bit. That's the thing about w

936
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:52,040
Speaker 1: w E. There's nothing quite like it. It's why you

937
00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:54,800
Speaker 1: always see the rock coming back to w w E

938
00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:57,920
Speaker 1: because there's nothing like it. There's nothing like that live

939
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:00,960
Speaker 1: audience and that live feel. I imagine that's why you

940
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,200
Speaker 1: probably enjoy going back to theater because you get that live,

941
00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:09,160
Speaker 1: instant gratification rather than waiting six two months to a

942
00:50:09,239 --> 00:50:11,680
Speaker 1: year to wait for your stuff to come out and

943
00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:13,840
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, like, yeah, I did that like a

944
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:19,320
Speaker 1: year ago exactly. UM, have to talk about your wife, Maurice,

945
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:24,440
Speaker 1: your new reality show, Miss and Mrs. You work together

946
00:50:24,719 --> 00:50:27,200
Speaker 1: both in the ring and outside of the ring. Is

947
00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:30,399
Speaker 1: that correct? We met, like I said before, we met

948
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:32,239
Speaker 1: off the Diva Search. She was a contestant. I was

949
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:35,359
Speaker 1: the host and the first time, it's funny, like on

950
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:39,200
Speaker 1: TV you can see the first time I ever set

951
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:41,680
Speaker 1: eyes on Maurice and the first time she ever set

952
00:50:41,680 --> 00:50:43,879
Speaker 1: eyes on me in the first conversation we ever had

953
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:48,640
Speaker 1: is literally on television. Yes, so you like Jim and Pam.

954
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:52,240
Speaker 1: I know you are like Jim and Pam. You played

955
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:55,000
Speaker 1: out in front of the cameras. What do you think

956
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:58,759
Speaker 1: that your chemistry? How did that? How did that change you?

957
00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:04,000
Speaker 1: And you're persona or enhance it? She enhances me in

958
00:51:04,040 --> 00:51:06,920
Speaker 1: every way. She makes me a better person, pushes me

959
00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:09,800
Speaker 1: when sometimes I feel like I don't need to be pushed,

960
00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:14,040
Speaker 1: but she will push me into directions. And I always

961
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:16,279
Speaker 1: look at her as like she's a dreamer and a

962
00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:20,600
Speaker 1: go getter. And sometimes when I'm like, I'll we have

963
00:51:20,680 --> 00:51:22,920
Speaker 1: this joke now because my buddy just came up with

964
00:51:22,920 --> 00:51:26,080
Speaker 1: this book called There's Just One Problem, and she read

965
00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:28,680
Speaker 1: the book and now she uses There's just One Problem.

966
00:51:28,719 --> 00:51:31,040
Speaker 1: Because I always say she'll come up with an idea

967
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:33,480
Speaker 1: and I go yeah, but she goes yeah, but is

968
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:35,800
Speaker 1: there is there a problem? Is there just one problem?

969
00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:38,279
Speaker 1: And I go, oh my god. And so I'm just

970
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:41,640
Speaker 1: trying to be a realist here, but she's sometimes her

971
00:51:41,880 --> 00:51:44,400
Speaker 1: like fans. So we have a production company called mad Reproductions.

972
00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:47,560
Speaker 1: We have like six shows that we're pitching right now,

973
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:51,200
Speaker 1: and some of these ideas she comes up with, and honestly,

974
00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:54,839
Speaker 1: most of these ideas are hers, like she derived him,

975
00:51:55,120 --> 00:51:58,239
Speaker 1: came up with them, got the decks and the sizzles

976
00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:01,800
Speaker 1: all together and squared away. And then I am always

977
00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:03,759
Speaker 1: the one that's like, yeah, this is not really real,

978
00:52:04,560 --> 00:52:07,000
Speaker 1: and I's like, what this is real? Look, this is

979
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:08,440
Speaker 1: what we can do, this is what we can have,

980
00:52:08,600 --> 00:52:10,160
Speaker 1: this is this is and then she does it and

981
00:52:10,160 --> 00:52:13,480
Speaker 1: I go, wow, that's actually a really great idea. The

982
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:16,120
Speaker 1: good thing I have you. But she pushes me and

983
00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:18,600
Speaker 1: she makes me a better person. And outside the ring,

984
00:52:18,719 --> 00:52:21,799
Speaker 1: so say say we're in the ring and she's managing me.

985
00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:24,200
Speaker 1: If you will, whenever you have your wife, you always

986
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:26,120
Speaker 1: want to show off. And I'm in I'm in a speedoh,

987
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:28,920
Speaker 1: like I'm half naked, Brian, you know out there. And

988
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:32,000
Speaker 1: so when I'm half naked and I'm I'm wrestling, I

989
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:33,520
Speaker 1: want to show off in front of my wife. I

990
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:35,920
Speaker 1: want to you know, show her like, hey, look what

991
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:39,400
Speaker 1: your husband can do. So I'm always trying to do go,

992
00:52:39,400 --> 00:52:41,800
Speaker 1: go one better, and go and add it. But on

993
00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:45,600
Speaker 1: miss and Mrs we love doing this show, like you know,

994
00:52:45,680 --> 00:52:48,400
Speaker 1: we've had so much fun. It's our We're we're getting

995
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:53,600
Speaker 1: into our fourth season and we absolutely love it, and

996
00:52:53,719 --> 00:52:56,080
Speaker 1: you know, it's a reality show that we're proud of

997
00:52:56,560 --> 00:53:00,360
Speaker 1: that my parents are involved in and everyone loves my

998
00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:04,000
Speaker 1: dad and Margaux and it's comedy and our little girls

999
00:53:04,239 --> 00:53:06,160
Speaker 1: to see them grow up, Like we started this show

1000
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:09,560
Speaker 1: and Monroe wasn't even born. She's four and a half now,

1001
00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:13,680
Speaker 1: and literally I've been able to watch videos of my

1002
00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:17,120
Speaker 1: daughter getting born on the on the first season, and

1003
00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:20,120
Speaker 1: now I get to see her grow and it's been

1004
00:53:20,239 --> 00:53:22,920
Speaker 1: such a cool process, Like I'll always have those, like

1005
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:26,799
Speaker 1: homemade videos that are really professional and we're televised, and

1006
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:29,760
Speaker 1: I'll always have those to watch and see them grow.

1007
00:53:29,840 --> 00:53:31,680
Speaker 1: And sometimes it brings a tear to my eye, but

1008
00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:34,560
Speaker 1: it's a comedy, so you know it will tug on

1009
00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:36,759
Speaker 1: your heartstrings, but it will also make you laugh. And

1010
00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:39,359
Speaker 1: it's kind of what The Office does for me, Like

1011
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:42,480
Speaker 1: I still watch all the Super shows, like the Super episodes.

1012
00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:44,920
Speaker 1: I think was the most genius idea that they have.

1013
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:48,920
Speaker 1: And I don't know if this is my favorite scene

1014
00:53:49,080 --> 00:53:51,920
Speaker 1: off the office, And I'm sorry to get off of topic,

1015
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:54,600
Speaker 1: but my favorite scene off the Office is with you,

1016
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,799
Speaker 1: and it's not the chili. I imagine everyone is says,

1017
00:53:57,840 --> 00:54:00,440
Speaker 1: it's the Chili. It's not and I think gets off

1018
00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:02,440
Speaker 1: of a Super episode and I don't know if this

1019
00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:08,280
Speaker 1: actually aired on the real episode. So Jan has a baby.

1020
00:54:08,440 --> 00:54:11,240
Speaker 1: She brings a baby, she's singing with it and she's

1021
00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:13,760
Speaker 1: and people are asking her where did she get the sperm?

1022
00:54:14,719 --> 00:54:17,799
Speaker 1: And she's like, oh, it is a very high end

1023
00:54:18,040 --> 00:54:21,040
Speaker 1: v I P type place, and you go, was it

1024
00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:24,880
Speaker 1: next to the eye hop? And she gives the look

1025
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:28,799
Speaker 1: and it's like, oh my god, Oh my god, she

1026
00:54:29,040 --> 00:54:32,800
Speaker 1: got it from where Kevin gave his Like this could

1027
00:54:32,800 --> 00:54:37,000
Speaker 1: beat Kevin's kid like that. That is my favorite scene.

1028
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:40,440
Speaker 1: That one, and and Creed coming in as a teenager

1029
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:43,760
Speaker 1: like his hair done was two of my favorite scenes

1030
00:54:44,480 --> 00:54:48,720
Speaker 1: in the office. And did I stutter yes, Oh yeah.

1031
00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:50,680
Speaker 1: That was the biggest fight I ever had with the

1032
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:57,160
Speaker 1: editors and writers when that scene in Baby Shower was cut.

1033
00:54:57,280 --> 00:55:00,279
Speaker 1: I thought it was the most genius I was. I

1034
00:55:00,320 --> 00:55:03,520
Speaker 1: am right, it was. It's in the Super show it now,

1035
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:08,160
Speaker 1: and it's my favorite scene because the way you throw

1036
00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:11,240
Speaker 1: it out there and the look she gives you, Oh

1037
00:55:11,280 --> 00:55:15,040
Speaker 1: my god, it was like it was one of those moments.

1038
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:17,359
Speaker 1: It's like a moment that you that you yearned for,

1039
00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:20,040
Speaker 1: like in those type of shows where you she didn't

1040
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:23,359
Speaker 1: never say anything, and the look she gives it's like,

1041
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:26,040
Speaker 1: oh my god, that's where she got it. And it's

1042
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:30,120
Speaker 1: next to the eye hoop, so prestigious, it's so p

1043
00:55:30,320 --> 00:55:34,560
Speaker 1: I P. It's next the freaking eyehop. So good, so

1044
00:55:34,600 --> 00:55:37,160
Speaker 1: well written. I don't know was that improv or was

1045
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:41,960
Speaker 1: that like, oh that was the writer's that was so good. Well,

1046
00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:46,640
Speaker 1: look you're now you're also now doing straight acting. You're

1047
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:51,040
Speaker 1: starting in the Marine franchise as Sergeant Jake Carter. Do

1048
00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:56,479
Speaker 1: you find acting in that more difficult or easier than

1049
00:55:56,960 --> 00:56:00,040
Speaker 1: the entertainment stuff that you do on reality TV? And

1050
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,600
Speaker 1: from the w w E. They're all different. So being

1051
00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:06,239
Speaker 1: on a reality show is completely different than being on

1052
00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:10,080
Speaker 1: a series show, than being on a movie, than being

1053
00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:13,279
Speaker 1: in w w E. So with acting, and I was

1054
00:56:13,400 --> 00:56:17,120
Speaker 1: very fortunate on my first marine Marine three Home Front

1055
00:56:17,360 --> 00:56:20,080
Speaker 1: to be with Scott Wiper, who was the director, because

1056
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:24,000
Speaker 1: he is very method in the way he does things,

1057
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:26,719
Speaker 1: and he taught me kind of how to do that

1058
00:56:27,719 --> 00:56:30,160
Speaker 1: and I was, you know, I was green, and so

1059
00:56:30,239 --> 00:56:34,000
Speaker 1: he made me stay in my trailer and he would

1060
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:36,759
Speaker 1: make me watch before we even did the movie. We

1061
00:56:36,800 --> 00:56:39,640
Speaker 1: would sit there and watch like all these old school

1062
00:56:39,719 --> 00:56:42,399
Speaker 1: movies and the little things like the good, the bad,

1063
00:56:42,440 --> 00:56:45,080
Speaker 1: the ugly, and just the little things that Clin Eastwood

1064
00:56:45,160 --> 00:56:48,200
Speaker 1: would do that we're nothing. And then watching cool Hand

1065
00:56:48,239 --> 00:56:52,520
Speaker 1: Luke and watching Newman like literally be effortless and everything

1066
00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:55,759
Speaker 1: that he does. And me, I'm a try hard I

1067
00:56:55,800 --> 00:56:57,839
Speaker 1: want to try hard and do the best impossible can

1068
00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:01,440
Speaker 1: and everything I am and sometimes that isn't the character

1069
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:04,359
Speaker 1: and that isn't and I'm too big. I'm very big,

1070
00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:06,640
Speaker 1: especially when you're in a theater like I look at

1071
00:57:06,719 --> 00:57:09,000
Speaker 1: w W as a theater like if you have I

1072
00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:11,120
Speaker 1: have to play for the last person in the in

1073
00:57:11,120 --> 00:57:13,840
Speaker 1: the last row, so I have to be big and huge.

1074
00:57:13,920 --> 00:57:18,200
Speaker 1: But with the camera it's so it gets everything. So

1075
00:57:18,280 --> 00:57:21,600
Speaker 1: he was teaching me all these little nuances, these little

1076
00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:24,800
Speaker 1: things that I could do to be natural and normal,

1077
00:57:24,840 --> 00:57:28,560
Speaker 1: and I'll never forget. I actually called the Rock and

1078
00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:30,560
Speaker 1: I texted him and I said, hey, man, I'm about

1079
00:57:30,600 --> 00:57:33,280
Speaker 1: starting my first movie, um getting ready to do my

1080
00:57:33,320 --> 00:57:34,960
Speaker 1: first scene. Is there any advice you can give me?

1081
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:39,000
Speaker 1: And he called me and he was like, dude, the

1082
00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:40,760
Speaker 1: best thing that I could tell you and help you

1083
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:44,000
Speaker 1: out with is just to be natural and it's gonna

1084
00:57:44,040 --> 00:57:46,840
Speaker 1: sound so easy and so weird. But once you get there,

1085
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:49,480
Speaker 1: there's gonna be three or four cameras. You're gonna have

1086
00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:52,080
Speaker 1: to hit a spot that you're not that you can't

1087
00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:54,280
Speaker 1: look at. You can't look at the spot, and you

1088
00:57:54,360 --> 00:57:56,360
Speaker 1: have to be normal and natural and it's action. You

1089
00:57:56,360 --> 00:57:58,480
Speaker 1: have to just make it feel and I was, and

1090
00:57:58,560 --> 00:58:02,040
Speaker 1: it was great advice because you know, sometimes you see

1091
00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:06,800
Speaker 1: in acting, you know you'll see a robotic kind of portrayal,

1092
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:11,240
Speaker 1: and I didn't want to do that. And so luckily

1093
00:58:11,320 --> 00:58:13,840
Speaker 1: Scott Wiper was able to hone me and dedicate me,

1094
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:16,240
Speaker 1: and then you know, I was given I didn't have

1095
00:58:16,280 --> 00:58:19,040
Speaker 1: to audition for Marine three. I was given it. And

1096
00:58:19,080 --> 00:58:23,880
Speaker 1: then my next movie, Christmas Bounty. The producer of Marine

1097
00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:26,560
Speaker 1: three said, we gave you Marine three, but you earned

1098
00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:30,280
Speaker 1: Christmas Bounty, and then from there we I was the first.

1099
00:58:30,320 --> 00:58:32,800
Speaker 1: It was so Marine three was my first one. John

1100
00:58:32,800 --> 00:58:35,600
Speaker 1: Cena did the first, tabas did the second, and so

1101
00:58:35,720 --> 00:58:38,120
Speaker 1: every time they had a new marine. The first time

1102
00:58:38,160 --> 00:58:40,920
Speaker 1: they made brought a marine back was me. So a

1103
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:45,400
Speaker 1: Marine four, five and six was all me and I

1104
00:58:45,480 --> 00:58:47,280
Speaker 1: was like, I couldn't believe that they would give me,

1105
00:58:47,640 --> 00:58:50,400
Speaker 1: you know, like keep doing it with my character and

1106
00:58:50,560 --> 00:58:53,520
Speaker 1: elevating the character. And then I also did a couple

1107
00:58:53,920 --> 00:58:56,480
Speaker 1: you know, Supernatural and a bunch of other things. But

1108
00:58:56,680 --> 00:58:59,800
Speaker 1: I love acting, like I love getting into different characters.

1109
00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:03,000
Speaker 1: It's just so much fun. And that's why I love

1110
00:59:03,080 --> 00:59:06,120
Speaker 1: off the Beaks. I like hearing other people's process in

1111
00:59:06,240 --> 00:59:09,160
Speaker 1: how they developed their characters, get into their characters, how

1112
00:59:09,200 --> 00:59:12,120
Speaker 1: they got their characters, how you know, some people didn't

1113
00:59:12,120 --> 00:59:13,840
Speaker 1: have to audition, some people did have to audition. Some

1114
00:59:13,840 --> 00:59:16,240
Speaker 1: teop to auditioned for years upon years and did an

1115
00:59:16,240 --> 00:59:19,320
Speaker 1: audition for that that actual show, but then they saw

1116
00:59:19,360 --> 00:59:21,240
Speaker 1: them off that audition and got them that thing. So

1117
00:59:21,320 --> 00:59:23,120
Speaker 1: every time I do an audition, I'm like, maybe I'm

1118
00:59:23,160 --> 00:59:26,400
Speaker 1: not auditioning for this role. Maybe I'm auditioning for something else.

1119
00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:30,720
Speaker 1: So I'm always trying to get better and hone my

1120
00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:34,160
Speaker 1: craft and and be better as an actor, especially coming

1121
00:59:34,160 --> 00:59:36,600
Speaker 1: off of reality because people still look at me as

1122
00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:39,480
Speaker 1: a reality star. Well let me tell you something. Let

1123
00:59:39,560 --> 00:59:43,439
Speaker 1: me tell you what I admire about you. Right, Both

1124
00:59:43,520 --> 00:59:49,760
Speaker 1: Michael Scott and Wayne Gretzky said, you miss or you

1125
00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:57,000
Speaker 1: miss of the shots you don't take, you shoot your

1126
00:59:57,000 --> 01:00:00,960
Speaker 1: shot and let me just say this. You're pitching six

1127
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:04,400
Speaker 1: projects right now. You've got the reality show with your wife,

1128
01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:07,720
Speaker 1: You're doing stuff with w w E, You're acting in

1129
01:00:07,720 --> 01:00:11,240
Speaker 1: in other films. And in addition to all of those things,

1130
01:00:11,600 --> 01:00:14,800
Speaker 1: let me tell you something. It exhausts me looking at

1131
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:23,640
Speaker 1: your Instagram. Its exhausts me because you are constantly creating content.

1132
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:27,280
Speaker 1: You are constantly putting yourself out there. And now I'm

1133
01:00:27,280 --> 01:00:29,720
Speaker 1: gonna say something, and this is gonna sound negative, but

1134
01:00:29,840 --> 01:00:32,960
Speaker 1: I promise you it is not. I watch your stuff.

1135
01:00:33,480 --> 01:00:35,320
Speaker 1: You know, we've gotten to know each other, we're friends.

1136
01:00:35,360 --> 01:00:38,320
Speaker 1: I watch your Instagram. Let me just say this, with

1137
01:00:38,400 --> 01:00:42,920
Speaker 1: all respect, some of it is is terrible. Okay, now

1138
01:00:43,080 --> 01:00:45,120
Speaker 1: I'm saying that. No, I'm saying that. I'm saying that

1139
01:00:45,160 --> 01:00:48,840
Speaker 1: in a funny way. But then the next day I'm

1140
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:53,040
Speaker 1: scrolling through and I genuinely laugh. And so here's my

1141
01:00:53,120 --> 01:00:59,800
Speaker 1: point is you always and consistently shoot your shot, and

1142
01:01:00,440 --> 01:01:03,760
Speaker 1: when you do that, it's not all going to be perfect.

1143
01:01:04,080 --> 01:01:07,000
Speaker 1: And that's not just how it should be in what

1144
01:01:07,040 --> 01:01:09,480
Speaker 1: you're doing, but I'm talking about in terms of acting

1145
01:01:09,520 --> 01:01:13,160
Speaker 1: as well. The boldness with which you try new things,

1146
01:01:13,920 --> 01:01:17,600
Speaker 1: set up different shots, put on God only knows what

1147
01:01:17,720 --> 01:01:23,240
Speaker 1: outfits in different settings, and you make a hell of

1148
01:01:23,240 --> 01:01:27,240
Speaker 1: a lot more than you miss. So I yeah, I

1149
01:01:27,240 --> 01:01:30,160
Speaker 1: mean we joked before when we talked in Tahoe that

1150
01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:33,720
Speaker 1: you are the consummate entertainer, and I mean that. I

1151
01:01:33,760 --> 01:01:37,120
Speaker 1: mean you are putting yourself out there consistently and regularly,

1152
01:01:37,600 --> 01:01:41,360
Speaker 1: and you are are very often succeeding. So I wanted

1153
01:01:41,400 --> 01:01:44,160
Speaker 1: you to hear that from me. I respect the hell

1154
01:01:44,200 --> 01:01:47,919
Speaker 1: out of you and you're willingness to put yourself out

1155
01:01:47,960 --> 01:01:51,360
Speaker 1: and that is a lesson that regardless of what you're doing,

1156
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:54,840
Speaker 1: whether it's sports or whether it's entertainment or acting or

1157
01:01:54,840 --> 01:01:57,000
Speaker 1: singing or any of the other folks that we're talking

1158
01:01:57,000 --> 01:02:00,240
Speaker 1: to here, that's a lesson that everybody can learn is

1159
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:04,640
Speaker 1: just keep keep shooting your shot. Well, thank you very much, man. Yeah,

1160
01:02:04,640 --> 01:02:06,800
Speaker 1: I want you to know, whether it's conscious or not,

1161
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:10,480
Speaker 1: it's impressive. It's it's really impressive, and you're entertaining a

1162
01:02:10,520 --> 01:02:13,200
Speaker 1: hell of a lot of people, So congratulation. Times it

1163
01:02:13,360 --> 01:02:16,320
Speaker 1: is sometimes it is like I mean to do it,

1164
01:02:16,360 --> 01:02:18,280
Speaker 1: and other times I don't. I'll give you an example.

1165
01:02:18,360 --> 01:02:22,040
Speaker 1: So Mortal Kombat came out with a movie, right, brand

1166
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:25,120
Speaker 1: new movie and once it came out, Johnny Cage wasn't

1167
01:02:25,120 --> 01:02:28,320
Speaker 1: in it, but I was trending worldwide that the miss

1168
01:02:28,360 --> 01:02:32,160
Speaker 1: should beat Johnny Cage. So literally the next day I

1169
01:02:32,200 --> 01:02:34,560
Speaker 1: call my age and I go, hey, if this is

1170
01:02:34,600 --> 01:02:37,919
Speaker 1: an option, I will do whatever it takes to beat

1171
01:02:37,960 --> 01:02:41,440
Speaker 1: Johnny Cage in the next Mortal Kombat movie. And so

1172
01:02:41,600 --> 01:02:43,880
Speaker 1: they made calls and they're like, we don't have a

1173
01:02:43,880 --> 01:02:47,560
Speaker 1: script yet, Like this guy's already calling, Like I'm already

1174
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:50,000
Speaker 1: like I'm already shooting my shot, like I've been stretching,

1175
01:02:50,600 --> 01:02:53,240
Speaker 1: I am so close to getting the splits down. I've

1176
01:02:53,240 --> 01:02:56,320
Speaker 1: been working on my kicks, my punches, and like, this

1177
01:02:56,360 --> 01:02:58,160
Speaker 1: is a this is a thing I've even auditioned for,

1178
01:02:58,600 --> 01:03:03,200
Speaker 1: Like I haven't even audio for. It was just exactly

1179
01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:06,280
Speaker 1: it doesn't even exist right now, but I'm still preparing

1180
01:03:06,360 --> 01:03:10,120
Speaker 1: for it because there's something wrong with me, Brian. I

1181
01:03:10,200 --> 01:03:12,640
Speaker 1: really honestly believe there's something wrong with because I'm like,

1182
01:03:13,080 --> 01:03:15,520
Speaker 1: this is something that I want. I really feel I

1183
01:03:15,560 --> 01:03:18,760
Speaker 1: can be it and really put everything I have into

1184
01:03:18,800 --> 01:03:21,000
Speaker 1: it and make it the character that it should be.

1185
01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:24,760
Speaker 1: And I know I could do it, and so it's

1186
01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:28,919
Speaker 1: all a matter of just seeing the scurrit and then

1187
01:03:29,000 --> 01:03:32,120
Speaker 1: literally getting the producers and they don't have directors of producers,

1188
01:03:32,120 --> 01:03:34,680
Speaker 1: they have anything done like but that that's that's all it.

1189
01:03:34,800 --> 01:03:37,600
Speaker 1: Like I guess I do really do shoot my shot

1190
01:03:37,760 --> 01:03:39,760
Speaker 1: even when there is no shot to be shot, Like

1191
01:03:39,800 --> 01:03:41,760
Speaker 1: I'll still shoot a shot just to see if it

1192
01:03:42,240 --> 01:03:45,360
Speaker 1: if it makes it because you never know what's going

1193
01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:49,959
Speaker 1: in it can it can ricochet and hit something even

1194
01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:53,840
Speaker 1: better at times I can speak from personal experience on that. Uh,

1195
01:03:54,000 --> 01:03:57,760
Speaker 1: Mike the miss thank you so much for talking to me.

1196
01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,520
Speaker 1: My best to your family. I'm want to see on

1197
01:04:00,520 --> 01:04:04,280
Speaker 1: the golf course soon. Yeah, I'm actually go right, I

1198
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:06,120
Speaker 1: gotta beat you and something you will beat me and

1199
01:04:06,200 --> 01:04:07,880
Speaker 1: that and be honest with you. I mean you you

1200
01:04:08,000 --> 01:04:10,520
Speaker 1: played a hell you played a really good in Tahoe.

1201
01:04:10,800 --> 01:04:12,400
Speaker 1: Let me tell you. I think I was like eighty

1202
01:04:12,480 --> 01:04:14,600
Speaker 1: I out of eighty six. And then I look for Brian,

1203
01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:18,080
Speaker 1: You're like in the forties. Well and that is that

1204
01:04:18,200 --> 01:04:21,360
Speaker 1: is saying something because everyone there is like really good

1205
01:04:21,360 --> 01:04:25,120
Speaker 1: at golf. It's ridiculous there. But hey, I also wanted

1206
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:28,680
Speaker 1: to say I really appreciate you having me on your podcast.

1207
01:04:28,800 --> 01:04:33,040
Speaker 1: I love Off the Beat. I loved like ever since

1208
01:04:33,120 --> 01:04:35,400
Speaker 1: the beginning, when you're doing all the office stuff. I

1209
01:04:35,440 --> 01:04:38,400
Speaker 1: watched it. I love how you interview, I love how

1210
01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:41,720
Speaker 1: the information and the passion you have for it. And

1211
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:44,240
Speaker 1: by the way, just for everyone out there, Brian is

1212
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:48,520
Speaker 1: amazing at gambling, because every time I've gambled with you,

1213
01:04:48,800 --> 01:04:51,720
Speaker 1: I have one. I have one. I I went up.

1214
01:04:51,760 --> 01:04:53,840
Speaker 1: By the only time I win is when I'm next

1215
01:04:53,880 --> 01:04:58,520
Speaker 1: to you, because you literally tell me everything to do. Oh,

1216
01:04:58,560 --> 01:05:01,479
Speaker 1: I do have something else to say. When I talked

1217
01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:04,920
Speaker 1: to MSS in Tahoe for the podcast this is what

1218
01:05:05,200 --> 01:05:07,840
Speaker 1: do we call this? A special A very special follow up?

1219
01:05:08,480 --> 01:05:11,959
Speaker 1: MS found a five thousand dollar chip and we made

1220
01:05:11,960 --> 01:05:14,040
Speaker 1: a lot of jokes about what to do with it.

1221
01:05:14,120 --> 01:05:15,840
Speaker 1: I told him he could just give it to me,

1222
01:05:15,880 --> 01:05:18,560
Speaker 1: and I would I would put it in a safe place. No.

1223
01:05:18,800 --> 01:05:23,320
Speaker 1: He went to Jonathan Thomas, the head of the American Century,

1224
01:05:23,920 --> 01:05:28,720
Speaker 1: and told him the story and said, this is for

1225
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:33,600
Speaker 1: the foundation, this is for cancer research. And the five

1226
01:05:33,640 --> 01:05:37,960
Speaker 1: thousand dollar chip that wasn't his that he found, fair

1227
01:05:38,040 --> 01:05:42,160
Speaker 1: and square ended up getting donated for cancer research through

1228
01:05:42,280 --> 01:05:45,280
Speaker 1: the American Century Foundation. So there you go. A good

1229
01:05:45,400 --> 01:05:49,280
Speaker 1: guy as well as a lucky guy. Yeah, very lucky

1230
01:05:49,560 --> 01:06:06,440
Speaker 1: very lucky. Well, thank you so much, Mike. That was

1231
01:06:06,520 --> 01:06:09,520
Speaker 1: so fun. I have loved getting to know you better

1232
01:06:09,640 --> 01:06:14,560
Speaker 1: and what makes the miss tick, or at least what

1233
01:06:14,720 --> 01:06:18,360
Speaker 1: makes Mike tick. To everybody out there listening, you're the

1234
01:06:18,400 --> 01:06:21,240
Speaker 1: best as well. It's always great to spend my Tuesdays

1235
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:24,120
Speaker 1: with you. I will be here next week, same time,

1236
01:06:24,200 --> 01:06:29,120
Speaker 1: same place, with another guest who some might say he's

1237
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:36,080
Speaker 1: always watching. Mm hmm, what does that mean? You'll see

1238
01:06:36,600 --> 01:06:50,000
Speaker 1: next week? Off the Beat is hosted an executive produced

1239
01:06:50,040 --> 01:06:54,800
Speaker 1: by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Langley. Our

1240
01:06:54,840 --> 01:06:58,880
Speaker 1: senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes,

1241
01:06:59,000 --> 01:07:02,920
Speaker 1: Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan

1242
01:07:03,240 --> 01:07:07,160
Speaker 1: Papa Zachary, and our intern is Sammy Cats. Our theme

1243
01:07:07,240 --> 01:07:10,960
Speaker 1: song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and only

1244
01:07:11,320 --> 01:07:12,080
Speaker 1: Creed Bratton